Family
by KarnagesMistress
Summary: The ones you love are affected by your life, too.


I own almost nothing. Sir Robin belongs to Monty Python, Remus Lupin and the associated themes belong to J.K. Rowling. I claim only Stacia and Remus the German Shepherd (as long as no one else does).

_Sir Robin the Not-Quite-so-Brave-as-Sir-Lancelot was nudging her hand while King Arthur cried like a baby. Sir Robin had short, somewhat stiff hair and a cold, wet, nose…_

Stacia started awake. Her German Shepherd, Remus, was nudging her elbow, pushing his nose up between her arm and torso. She blinked rapidly. "Awake, I'm awake," she thought as her body made the rapid transition from REM sleep to being awake. Someone was still crying. Romulus! The baby! She swore under her breath. "Some mother you are, can't even remember that you have a kid. But, hey, there's still a lot that you don't remember. Like exactly what happened the night that your memory became swiss cheese, and where you left your slippers," Stacia thought to herself.

"Coming, Rom, honey. Don't cry, Mum's on her way."

"Please, don't cry," she thought, "the last thing I need is to get Remus and Remus barking at each other again." Stacia berated herself immediately for thinking such a thing. Mother of the Year she knew she wasn't, and now let's add Wife of the Year to the list, too. Remus always told her that she held herself to a standard far above any that others set for her. "What happened to Hufflepuffs being 'unafraid of toil?'" she would chide back. "Hmm," Remus would muse, "but wasn't there also a line about Slytherins being cunning? Crabbe and Goyle were about as cunning as mildewed parchment." At this point they would both laugh and Stacia would try to relax a bit.

She stumbled sleepily across the room to the bassinet where her five-month-old son slept. "Hey, babe," she murmured, scooping him up, "Mum's here, no need to cry. Just because they call it 'six month colic' doesn't mean that you have to cry for exactly that long." Stacia held him to her shoulder and bounced him gently. Rom was still sobbing, but more gently now. "Shhh, okay love? Hey, you hungry or dirty or something? Oooh, poor little one." Stacia murmured gently as she rose the baby above her head and sniffed his diaper. Clean, a small miracle. Okay, so that left hungry.

Stacia carried her son across the room towards the porch door. It was a warm summer's night, and the fresh air would feel good against her skin. She stopped to grab her wand before opening the door. "You can't be too careful during the full moon, we know that too well, don't we, Rom?" Stacia mused to the sobbing child as they stepped out on the porch, the German Shepherd padding at her heels.

Stacia sat down on a chair and opened her nightshirt to reveal a bare breast. The baby took her nipple eagerly, his cries silenced by the flow of milk. Remus lay down at her feet and laid his head on his one remaining front leg. Although he looked like he was sleeping, Stacia knew that the slightest noise would alert him into action. It was on a night such as this just over two years ago that that protective instinct had cost him his missing leg. Stacia reached one naked toe out to tickle his tummy as she dropped her head back and sighed.

She hated these nights. It was selfish of her to do so, so many others suffered much more than she did under the light of the full moon. "It's better now, though, you know, Rom? In the beginning, it was awful. Your angelmother, Lily, would do her best to take care of me, while your angelfathers, James and Sirius, would do their best to take care of your father, but we both knew. Both of us fully understood the danger. You have to understand it, too. People don't understand–they think that I'm just some fluffy romantic, thinking that love will conquer all. Sometimes it does, but that's rare and so you can't assume that it will. You have to be realistic and smart."

Rom gurgled and released her nipple. Content at last, he let his eyes droop and fell back into slumber. Stacia stood and clutched the baby to her chest, looking out into the night. "When the full moon is out, it's just you and me, babe. That's when love conquers all. Because, after the night comes the morning, and we can be a family again." 


End file.
